


The Merman's Pirate

by justanotherpipedream



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Merman Bucky, pirate Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-11-09 02:22:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17993033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherpipedream/pseuds/justanotherpipedream
Summary: Captain Tony Stark is dragged by the rest of his crew to the Captivating Carnival of Curiosities. Skeptical at first, Tony is eventually more horrified than astonished when he stumbles across a gorgeous merman, trapped as the star of the show.“I’m gonna get you outta here,” nods Tony, clenching his jaw. "I promise."





	1. The Merman and the Pirate

**Author's Note:**

> Something a bit different! This will be a series of snippets, sometimes jumping back and forth in chronological order, but set within this same universe. If you've been following me on tumblr, you may recognize these snippets as part of the merman and pirate au! I've edited them and added some things so it's a bit more coherent, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Tony was  _livid_.

When Tony was dragged by his crew to explore the  _Captivating Carnival of Curiosities_ , he didn’t expect much. A fortune telling booth, made to swindle as much as possible from vague possible futures perhaps. Maybe even a few talented performers, although he hadn’t seen anyone as talented with a bow and arrow as Clint in a long time. However, Tony could honestly admit that staging an escape for a merman was not on the top of the list.

Long brown hair and a beautiful long shark’s tail, the merman stayed in the corner of his tank, way too small for his large form, hiding away from the gawking onlookers. After a few moments, the merman swam close to the glass, staring back in curiosity at the brown-eyed human watching him through the glass.

“I’m gonna get you outta here,” nods Tony, clenching his jaw. Jagged scars lined the merman’s left shoulder, a stump where his left arm should be. Tony presses his hand against the glass, a warmth settling in his chest as he watches the merman carefully do the same on his side, curiously tracing the glass where Tony’s hand was.

Tony managed a wobbly smile, “I promise.”

Two hours later, first mate Rhodey frowns as he looks out from the deck of the ship. Most of the crew returned from their visit to the circus, and the only one missing was…

“RHODEEYYYY, PREPARE THE SAILS AND GET ME A RAMP, WE’RE LEAVING NOW.”

Rhodey squints, peering down the docks only to groan. A giant glass tank, filled with what looked like a terrified _mershark_ of all things, was rolling towards him at top speed. Tony ran behind it, pushing the tank, faster than Rhodey had ever seen him run, and was being chased by what looked like a very angry carnival mob.

Rhodey rushes to lower down a ramp, yelling back towards his best friend, “FIRST THE RACCOON, NOW A DAMN MERMAN? IF THIS COMES BACK TO BITE YOU IN THE ASS LIKE ROCKET DID, THIS IS ME TELLING YOU I TOLD YOU SO!”

With the help of the crew, Rhodey and Tony secure the tank onto their ship just in time to leave the angry mob behind at the docks.

After a few hours on the water, Tony, with the help of Rhodey and Happy, heaves the side of the tank over the edge of the ship, freeing the merman back into the ocean. Tony leans over the edge of the ship, waving to the bewildered merman. “Go on! Be free!”

The merman stares up at him in wonder. Tony smiles and waves at him before walking back to the wheel. A few hours later, Tony laughs as he spots the merman following behind them, a happy humming filling the air as the merman jumped and swam beside them.

Every morning, the crew wakes up to a small pile of fish tossed onto the deck. Days after that, pretty shells and rocks are also left beside the offering of fish.  Rhodey snorts as he picks up a pretty purple shell. “Looks like you have an admirer Tones.”

Determined to speak to the merman once again, Tony wakes up at the crack of dawn the next morning. He walks out onto the deck the moment the moment a giant, wiggling salmon is tossed onto the deck. Next to it, a shiny pretty pink pearl necklace catches his eye. It sparkled brightly in the sunlight and looking at it closely, Tony could tell that the necklace was carefully woven together by seagrass.

Touched, Tony slips on the necklace. He leaned over the side, tilting his head to glance down at the merman staring up at him from the water down below. “You know you don’t have to keep repaying me right? No one deserves what you went through. I was more than happy to set you free."

Tony jumps as the pink necklace glowed, and while the merman said nothing, he could hear words whispered clearly in his mind. “ _For mate.”_

Tony gaped as the merman stared up at him earnestly. “Whoa, wait a minute, you don’t mean _me_?”

_“You. For you. Mate.”_

Tony groaned. Rhodey was going to kill him.


	2. Rhodey: The First Mate

Rhodey is half hunched over, tears rolling down his face as he slaps the ground over and over again.

“BWAHAHAHAA, I CAN’T BREATHE- of course this happened to you-”

Tony glares, arms crossed. “You done yet?”

Rhodey wipes his face with his sleeve. “I will never be done. This is even better than the time you accidentally got kidnapped by a giant tree-”

“Okay, first of all Groot was trying to save us-”

“He thought you were a child because you were, I quote ‘ _so damn short’_ -”

“YOU CAN’T EVEN SPEAK GROOT, HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW-”

“It was implied when he kept pointing to the small twigs on the ground.”

Rhodey smirks as he watches Tony glare at him mulishly. 

“I will admit to being slightly on the shorter side-”

“That’s an understatement.”

“ANYWAYS, that isn’t gonna help me now is it?”

Rhodey eyes Tony. 

Tony waves towards the waters below where the merman was swimming lazily beside them. Bucky, trills happily, humming at Tony’s attention. That familiar glint in Tony’s eyes had Rhodey’s stomach filling with dread.  _Oh no._

“Tony,” hisses Rhodey, “No. No, no, no- you will  _not_  fuck the merman-” 

Tony sniffed. “Excuse you, I totally could if I wanted to-”

“No Tony.”

“I mean, he’s handsome. I’m clearly handsome. We obviously both like each other so you know, who knows what could happen-”

“TONY!”

“Oh come on, you’ve known me long enough not to be surprised anymore. Besides, he’s sweet honest-”

“You’ve known him literally for like 2 weeks-”

“-loyal. You gotta admit, he’s pretty determined-”

“Swimming to keep up with you I will admit takes guts.”

“-and has great abs-”

“TONY!”

Tony frowned. “What? I know you prefer the female form, but even you have to admit-”

“Not that! There’s another ship hoisting their colours up ahead!”

“Oh. Well why didn’t you say so earlier? We’ll finish this conversation later. ALL HANDS ON DECK!”

* * *

An hour later, Rhodey and the rest of the crew stare share dumbfounded looks as they watched members of the enemy ship that attacked them, screaming for mercy as they abandoned their ship. Some had managed to swim towards the islands in the far distance, but most were not lucky enough to escape.

Apparently,  Bucky wasn’t pleased that his mate-to-be was attacked.

 Rhodey jumps as Happy clears his throat beside him. “I don’t know what’s more terrifyin’, the fact that the merman-”

“Apparently, he's named  _Bucky._ "

“That Bucky,” corrects Happy without breaking a sweat, ”was able to tear apart all those men without a sweat, or the fact that the Captain’s fretting over there making noises like a mother hen.”

The rest of the crew shuffle back to their posts, all of them pretending not to stare as they watch their normally suave Captain fuss over the smug merman, wrapping his wounds in bandages. 

At least Bucky seems to be enjoying the attention. He flexes his arm with a grin, clearly enjoying Tony’s attention as he basks in the brand new tank that Tony built for him on deck.

“Both,” Rhodey sighs, "both of them are gonna give me a headache either way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Rhodey needs a vacation at some point lol.


	3. Merman Steve pulls a Marlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reioka asked: *Psst, psst* Where's Steeeve is he the naysayer to Bucky that Rhodey is to Tony???

Steve is not only Bucky’s naysayer friend, but he’s also one of Bucky’s only friends to be honest.

Mersharks tend to live pretty solitary lives, living only with their mates and pups, so Bucky tends to get pretty antsy when another mer noses their way into his territory. Steve of course managed to wiggle his way right into Bucky’s life without shame.

They first met when Bucky saves Steve from an overly aggressive school of mer. Even if he was still growing into his size, Steve was shameless about throwing himself into a fight with mers twice his size.

And as tempting as it was for Bucky to swim past and stick to his own business, he couldn’t help but sigh and step in when he saw the little stingray mer yell at the giant group of tiger shark mers, shaking his fists at them as they circled him.

After the two of them together managed to chase the group off, the stingray mer turned to Bucky beaming. Apparently from that moment on, Steve decided that he and Bucky would be friends.

“Absolutely not,” replied Bucky. He started to swim away. Steve, Bucky learned was his name, opened his mouth, but Bucky kept swimming. “I saved you so you can pay me back by never talking to me again. You’re welcome, goodbye.”

It wasn’t until days later, when Bucky was surrounded by a larger, angrier group of mers, that he realized that Steve was following him.

“Did you seriously just punch that guy in the nose?” asked Bucky, stunned and reluctantly impressed. Steve was a lot smaller than them, but somehow managed to swim in screaming and landed a good hit on their leader. The tiger shark cradled his bleeding nose, crying while the rest of the mer group ushered him away with a glare.

“The element of surprise is the best weapon,” responded Steve with a nod. Bucky stared incredulously at Steve, the stingray mer who had jumped into a fight with five other mer on his own, fists flying to defend Bucky as he continued to talk at Bucky.

”You’re my friend now,” declared Steve, “so from now on, no more swimming head first into fights on your own okay? Wait until I’m there before you do anything stupid, so I can be stupid with you.”

Bucky squinted. That seemed fair.

Similar to how Rhodey reels Tony in from executing all his grandiose plans, Bucky is always swimming in to stop Steve from getting himself killed.

“Steve, stop trying to start fights with them, you know they’ll cheat and bring their entire school of friends with them-”

“Steve, he didn’t actually call you fat, he was commenting on your wide tail-”

“Steve, stop trying to awkwardly apologize, you’re just gonna make things weirder than they already are-”

On the other hand, Bucky was always the one curious about the humans living up above. Steve was always a little more cautious and wary.

“Bucky, be more careful. Don’t swim too close to the shore, the humans tend to go that way-”

“Bucky, don’t touch that thing, you don’t know if it will hurt you. The humans are good at making traps.”

“BUCKY STOP STABBING ME IN THE SIDE WITH THAT SMALL HUMAN TRIDENT.”

So when Steve figures out that not only was Bucky missing, but taken by humans, he _rages_.

Every ship that swims by, Steve latches on, frantically searching for his lost friend, leaving shipwreck after shipwreck in his wake to find him.

Steve even launches himself in rage at Tony’s ship, doing his utmost best to damage the bottom. As the boat lurches and a loud familiar screeching fills the air,  Bucky stops Tony from ordering the crew to fire the cannons.

It’s only when Bucky heaves himself out of his basking tank, and crawls off the side of the ship that Steve stops.

“Stop it you punk, this is my future mate’s ship you’re wrecking!”

Steve launches himself at Bucky, wrapping his arms around him tightly as he twirled them around. “Bucky you’re alright!”

Bucky pats Steve’s arm awkwardly.“Yeah, I’m okay now. Tony saved me and set me free.”

Steve blinks. “Tony?”

Bucky motions to the humans standing on the deck, all of them watching the clicks and screeches between the two mers. He pointed Tony out who watched them both curiously with a smile. “That’s him, my Tony. I’m courting him to be my mate.”

Steve brightens. “Mate? You’re finally courting a mate? Well I guess he's alright if you said he saved you- oh he’s so pretty Buck!”

Rhodey sighs as he watches Tony help pull Bucky and this new mer onto the ship. Rhodey glances over the basking tank, resigned to helping Tony build a larger one. Tony hasn’t said anything yet, but Rhodey already knows how this was gonna end.


	4. Steve and Bucky join the crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A double feature this chapter! Steve and Bucky join Tony's crew and Rhodey deserves a vacation.

It takes some time for Steve and Bucky to adjust to life above deck. It takes an hour for Bucky and Steve to realize that having only Tony being able to understand them was a problem. So after a short day trip out to sea, Steve and Bucky returned with two brand new shiny coral necklaces so that the rest of the crew could also understand them.

The first time Steve speaks to Sam through the necklace, Sam screamed and dropped a crate onto Clint’s foot. It took Sam a good five minutes to get Clint to stop crying and hopping to let him look at Clint’s foot.

Steve whispered to Tony, eyes wide “Your friends are weird.”

Tony’s eyes twinkled. “Yeah, but that’ why we all get along so well.”

Steve nodded. "That...makes sense."

After that, it doesn't take Bucky and Steve long to integrate themselves as part of the crew. Bucky became really good at helping learning how to tie knots and how to navigate the ship. Clint and Kamala were pleased as punch to have another set of hands help them with the ropes. Steve on the other hand, was fascinated with Sam’s various tools and thingamabobs that were used to help Happy prepare food in the kitchen.

”We call this a fork Steve” said Sam patiently.

“Ohh!” replied Steve, flipping the fork in his hand back and forth, “I’ve just been calling these human tridents. They’re very small but useful.”

Bucky snorted into Tony’s shoulder. “That brat yelled at me the first time I picked one up. Then after nothing happened, he kept stabbing me with it for being stupid about picking it up when I didn’t know what it did.“

With Sam and Happy’s skills in the kitchen, and Steve’s foraging skills, the crew ate amazing meals every night.

"It’s slightly concerning how gleeful you are about this” bemused Bucky to Steve as they scooped clams into the small baskets Sam gave them.

“That seafood gumbo was better than anything I’ve tasted in my entire life” sniffed Steve, “I’d be willing to scavenge anything if it means I get to try that again.” His arms carefully balanced the basket under his arm.

Bucky stared at Steve before grinning, sharp teeth glinting. “So what Tony said was true.”

Steve paused. “What?”

“That a way to a man, or mer’s, heart is through his stomach. I thought he was joking at first, but I guess not.”

The crew jumped as they heard Steve's shrill shriek of anger as Bucky surfaced to the water with a clicking laugh, the whir of a fork flying past him landing on the deck with a clank.

* * *

Rhodey is more than used to dealing with all of Tony’s rescued strays. And while he would never admit it out loud, it’s one of the things that he admires most about Tony. Tony’s heart was always the biggest, and Rhodey is proud of how soft his friend still is. Even after all the harsh years of life at sea, Tony’s optimism was as bright as ever.

“Rhodey, I bought us a pirate ship!”

“We’re gonna be the best pirates ever Rhoey, you just wait!”

“Rhodey, don’t be too mad. Rocket didn't actually mean to bite me in the leg-"

No matter how hard and self-serving the world was, Tony always tries to see the good in everyone, no matter who they are. And Rhodey will be damned before he allows anyone to try and crush that.

So it’s no surprise that even a week later, Rhodey's still a little wary of Bucky and Steve.

“I can always fillet them if they hurt Tony,” declared Rhodey to Happy. He sharpens his sword with a flourish. “Those fish boys won’t even see it coming.”

After a month at sea, Rhodey starts to relax. It was pretty clear that Bucky and Steve meant Tony no harm and are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Tony, and by extension the rest of the crew, safe. Mostly because with their two new members of the crew, the attacks on their ship become much less frequent. Of course, Bucky sinking an entire pirate ship in an instant without mercy and Steve’s rage attacks only fueled the rumours.

_Don’t mess with Stark’s ship, I heard they’re protected by monsters._

_Those pirates are worshiping the DeVIL with their BlAcK MaGiC._

_Did you hear? Stark sacrificed men to sea demons to do his bidding._

Rhodey had to run out of the pub after hearing the last one, laughing all the way to the ship. Tony looked up at Rhodey’s approach. “You okay?”

Rhodey nodded, still snickering as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

Steve twirled, showing off his flower crown to Bucky who was half-bent over so Tony could fasten his on as well. Never in a million years would Rhodey have believed that Tony of all people managed to charm and befriend two of the most dangerous creatures on the ocean.  

Thankfully for Rhodey's piece of mind, Tony had that effect on everyone it seemed.


	5. Natasha the Nomad

With Bucky and Steve deciding to stay with Tony and his crew full time, it was bound to happen that someone under the sea would notice they were missing. While it wasn’t unusual that Bucky disappeared often, some of Steve’s friends started to grow worried when he hasn’t been showing up to any of his usual spots.

So Steve should’ve probably realized that Natasha would be the one who hunted them down first.

“I thought you were afraid of human tridents”

Steve screamed as he flung the fork across the deck. Steve stared down at the siren floating below in the ocean below. “What the shellfish Natasha! How did you even find me?”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t hard to ask around. It’s not like you’ve been subtle when you’ve been hunting around carrying large hoards of oysters and clams before disappearing to the surface.”

Steve glanced down at his knocked over basket in dismay, quickly scooping the shucked oysters into the bucket beside him. “What are you doing here anyways?”

Natasha brushed her wet hair out of her face. “Everyone was taking bets on whether you and Bucky got eaten or not. I was sent to double check.”

Steve scowled. “You can tell Rumlow that I’m perfectly fine. Condescending asshole.” Steve straightened up with a grin. “Bucky even got himself a mate.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t think Bucky was interested in finding himself a mer to tie himself down.”

Steve huffed. “He didn’t. He got himself a human mate.”

Natasha’s eyes flashed a bright gold. “ _Interesting_. This I need to see.”

”I changed my mind,” said Natasha. She wrinkled her nose. Bucky flexed his muscles, preening.  Tony gave him a wink as he walked by, laughing when Bucky’s arm shot out to pull him closer. “Those two are disgustingly sweet.”

Rhodey sighed, dumping another bucket of ocean water into the extra large basking tank. This was the third fucking tank he and Tony had to modify. “This is my life now. _Why is this my life now_.”

* * *

After that first visit, Natasha generally enjoyed dropping in unannounced as she pleased. Part of it was that she enjoyed making a dramatic entrance. Watching big and burly mers like Bucky and Steve, some of the toughest mers around, scream and flail when she scared them is always a delight. More of it has to do with the fact that it’s hard for the rest of the human crew to trust her, and vice versa, as it was for Bucky and Steve.

As welcoming as Tony is, whenever she dropped by, she still sometimes sees the wary stares of the other pirates. They’re all sailors at heart who have grown up with the stories of sirens enchanting men, pulling them deep beneath the oceans to their deaths.

And it’s not like those stories came out of nowhere, Natasha knows that there were times those stories were true. So when she hears the whispers, of the rumours that she’s enchanted humans to get what she wants…she takes her leave.

She understands.  

Honestly, she would probably be more uncomfortable if they weren’t so wary of her at first. The ocean is an unforgiving place after all, and only the smart survive.

Natasha was suspicious when Clint first starts communicating with her through hand signs. At first, she was a little bit outraged; does this human think she’s incapable of understanding human speech like Bucky and Steve can? Was this because she was a siren?

She saw him talking with Peter the other day, so why wouldn’t he talk with her?

She stews on this for a few days, refusing to talk to anyone else other than Tony and Rhodey before she took off for another week. It didn’t take long for her to realize however, that Clint actually talked to Steve and Bucky the same way.

Natasha slid up to Tony, her tail flicking behind her, sticking out of the basking tank. “Is he mute? Why doesn’t he talk to us like you and Rhodey do?”

Tony shook his head. “Clint’s deaf, so a lot of the time he reads lips. It’s not as easy for him to read your lips so he tends to try and use his sign language with you, Steve and Bucky.”

Natasha paused. “I see. Can you teach me a few phrases?”

Clint is delighted when Natasha signs her name to him, even if her hands are shaky and she has to pause every once in a while to remember what Tony had taught her. The more time she spends with Clint however, Natasha’s stays become longer and longer, and she’s astonished when the rest of the crew start talking to her as well.

Natasha ignores all the teasing looks Steve and Bucky throw her way when they think she isn’t looking.

It was nice talking to someone unafraid of her deceiving them, of her seducing them to get what she wants.

And as much as she’s glad that the crew has become more welcoming, Natasha’s extremely satisfied that Bucky and Steve still scream when she sneaks up on them. It’s comforting to know that she still could instill fear into the hearts of mers everywhere if she so wanted.

And if her heart starts beating a little faster whenever Clint smiled at her well...that’s only for her to know.


	6. Bucky and Tony's First Kiss

Bucky and Tony’s first kiss happens much later than everyone expected. Every time Tony leaned in to give Bucky a kiss, Bucky turned his cheek towards him instead. He usually just tugged Tony in close, brushing his lips across Tony’s temple. At first Tony didn’t mind; Bucky was super cuddly and Tony definitely loved that about him.

However, after a few months, Tony definitely started to wonder. Maybe mers don’t kiss like humans do? Tony tried bringing it up once, but Bucky simply hummed and said _in due time_ before distracting him.

Tony was a bit puzzled at first. Maybe Bucky wasn’t comfortable with kissing? Tony wasn’t entirely up to speed with mer culture, even though Bucky answered all his questions as best he could.

Steve was also twitchy when Tony asked him about it. He set down the oyster shells he was shucking with a pause.

_“It’s a very important step in the courtship process,_ ” said Steve carefully. _“Bucky is a mershark, which means that once he picks a mate, it’s for life.”_

Steve paused as he searched Tony's face.Tony nodded. “I don’t plan on letting him go anytime soon.”

Steve scanned him for a while, but brightened as he saw how serious Tony was. “ _Good. For mers well- the first kiss is a very important milestone that isn’t taken lightly. It’s- important to Bucky that he tells you when he’s ready. I’m sorry but I don’t wanna say more than that.”_

Tony had left it alone after that, fully content to hold Bucky’s hand and cuddle with the larger mer. He told Bucky as such.

“I’ll wait for however long you need darling. You’re stuck with me until you don’t want me anymore.”

Bucky shuddered and he hugged Tony even closer. _“ ’ll always want you. Always."_

In retrospect, Tony should’ve realized that nothing ever went to plan.

One day, a large fleet of ships decided to try their luck against _The Maria_. Before Tony’s crew could swing the ship out of the way, two large ships raised their sails and surrounded the ship on both sides.

It was a long and drawn out battle, and Tony led his crew through the cannon fire and chaos. Bucky does his best to help, but it’s difficult when there’s so much debris and bodies falling in the water and obscuring his vision. In the ensuing chaos, Tony gets thrown into the icy water below.

Bucky didn’t actually see him fall, but he felt it in his chest, a feeling of something tight squeezing deep in his chest, a sudden fear and panic that overwhelmed everything. Bucky swam and swam, panicking as he struggled to push aside everything else that wasn’t his mate-to-be.

The panic only intensified as Bucky finally spotted Tony, struggling under to swim and kick to the surface. A giant wooden beam was wedged in his chest, and pinned him below the surface of the water.

Bucky worked at the wooden beam with his teeth, biting as hard as he can to free just enough of it for Tony to be free. Bucky’s bites grew more frantic as Tony’s eyes started to drift shut.

“ _Come on Tony, hold on just a bit longer!”_

With a final burst of adrenaline, Bucky bit through the wood. His arm snaked around the flailing Tony, tail flicking as he swam as fast as he could to the surface. Tony sputtered as they breached the surface, heaving water as he slumped gratefully into Bucky’s chest. His teeth were clattering together as he shivered.

“Th-th-thanks”

Bucky inhaled sharply as Tony continued to cough and wheeze, dark red drops of blood dripping down his chin. “ _Hold on starfish, we’re almost there.”_

Rhodey spotted them first. Bucky shrieked at him, wailing for help as he cradled the half-conscious Tony to his chest. With Happy and Peter’s help, Rhodey and Bucky managed to lay Tony out onto the deck. Happy looked over the section of wood still wedged in.

“We need to get that out, but I’m not sure how bad the damage is.”

Bucky trilled, clutching tightly to Tony’s hand. Tony smiled weakly up at him. “How bad can it be?”

“Captain, if we remove it, you could bleed out if it’s too big…”

“Well then, I’m a dead man walking either way” coughed Tony, the blood staining his teeth as he wheezed.

Bucky stared down at the pearl necklace around Tony’s throat, a reminder of a promise, and shook his head.

Bucky narrowed his eyes. “ _Remove it. I’ll fix it.”_

Happy frowned, but snapped his mouth close at Bucky’s growl. He turned to Tony instead. “Orders Captain?”

Tony closed his eyes, patting Bucky’s arm. “Do it. There’s not harm in trying. I know I’m a dead man even if we don’t.”

With a sharp nod, Happy motioned to Rhodey and Peter. “Hold him still.”

Bucky steeled himself as Tony’s sharp screams filled the air, slightly muffled by the piece of wood they gave him to bite down on. Bucky swallowed down bile as he watched as the long jagged piece of wood was pulled out, dark red blood pouring out of the wound.

As soon as Happy moved out of the way, Bucky cradled Tony’s head, holding pressure against his chest with the other. Bucky pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead, eyes darkening.

“ _I’m sorry, but I can’t let you die.”_

Bucky pressed his lips against Tony’s, eyes sliding close as he pulled Tony close. His lips were cold and bloodied, but Bucky didn’t care. He poured everything he could into the kiss, and held on tightly as until he felt Tony gasp.

Bucky held on as the pearl necklace glowed, surrounding them in blue light. They pulled away with a gasp, and Bucky glanced down in relief. The wound was gone. What remained was a large bright glowing pearl. It glowed and shimmered, embedded fully into Tony’s chest.

Tony gasped. He stared at down his chest in wonder “What did you do?”

Bucky brushed the wet dripping hair out of Tony’s face. “ _Entwined your life with mine. You’ll be stronger, healthier.”_

Tony clutched at Bucky, gasping at the star shaped wound on Bucky’s arm, similar to the one that was on Tony’s chest minutes before. “Why, _why would you do such a thing-”_

Bucky clasped Tony’s face gently. “ _Because I’ve been alone for so long starfish. I’ve combed the ocean and there’s no one else out there like you. The only reason I didn’t tell you was because I didn’t want to pressure you into saying yes. I know you might not be there yet, and even if you never do, as long as you’re alright, I don’t care. You’re it for me Starfish. I don’t want to live a life without you in it.”_

Tony shuddered as Bucky pressed another soft kiss to his lips. “ _I love you starfish.”_

“I love you too.”


	7. Bucky and Tony's gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q: Does Bucky bring special items from the sea for Tony as courting gifts? Either lost relics or trinkets that he’s made himself? I can see him being super proud of his gifts for his mate.

In addition to the necklace that Bucky gave Tony for communication, Bucky brings a lot of gifts to Tony to prove that he’s a worthy mate.

Barrels of fish to prove that he can provide. Pretty shells and seaglass jewelry to prove that as Bucky’s mate, Tony would live a life of luxury. Bucky even brought a small, beautiful conch shell to slip onto Tony’s necklace.

“ _For protection_ ,” said Bucky as he fastened it around Tony’s neck, _“No matter where you go, call me and I will find you. Always._ ”

Tony was flattered and touched by the thoughtful gifts. He clutched the shell around his neck. Hopefully he’ll never have to use it, but well. In their line of work, it never hurt to be safe.

In return, Tony adored finding Bucky gifts from the surface. Bucky was fascinated by the maps and the ship’s navigation tools, so Tony gifts him with a small beautifully handcrafted map, drafted out in ink. Tony even got it laminated and pressed with a water resistant material so Bucky can keep it with him in his basking tank if he wanted to.

After patiently teaching Bucky how to read and write, Tony gifted Bucky with a small collection of well-loved books. They were well worn thanks to the salt and the harshness of a life at sea, but Bucky loved them nonetheless.

He spent hours tracing out the ink with his fingers, staring in awe at the images that brought the stories to life. One of Bucky’s favourite things though, is whenever Tony reads aloud to him. If Bucky didn't know any better, he would've thought that Tony was a siren, his timbre and soothing voice always able to lull Bucky into a state of full relaxation. Reading about new adventures and stories was always exciting, but having Tony read it out loud to him was always better. One of the ones he loved the most was the story of Scheherazade and her thousand and one tales.

Bucky’s absolute favourite gift though, is whenever Tony sang to him.

Tony sang all the time. Brushing his teeth, while he’s navigating at the wheel, or even while he’s scrubbing down the basking tank, whether he notices or not, Tony was always singing or humming some sort of song under his breath. Most of his crew is used to it; they’re used to to Tony humming Italian operettas while they work. Sea shanties are also popular among the crew, and Bucky was in awe the first time he heard the entire crew singing while they worked.

He loved how he could still pick out Tony’s rich melodic voice even among the harmonies. Bucky, from his perch in the tank, loves to close his eyes and just listen.

Bucky himself doesn’t really sing - he’s not a siren like Natasha is, so singing isn’t his strong suit. He does hum on occason though, and Tony tells him it’s soothing. It’s always the same familiar tune, soft and slow while he pets Tony’s hair as they star gaze.

He thinks that maybe his mother sang it to him when he was still a pup. He can’t remember her much, the memories are mostly a blur. But he does remember that song, likes humming it to himself whenever he’s feeling down or lonely. It always gave him a small bit of comfort. And if it helps and soothes his mate on those nights where Tony wakes up in a cold sweat? Bucky is more than happy to comfort him with it when he can.


	8. Peter Parker joins the crew

Peter Parker joined the crew at the age of 16, when he snuck on board while the ship was docked at his small port hometown. He was living with his Aunt May who worked at the local tavern at the time.

His Aunt May worked hard to provide for her only nephew. Even with working long shifts at the tavern, she would always do her best to read Peter a bedtime story before she left. Tales of faraway lands, magic ships and princes, had Peter dreaming of going on his own big adventure, even as he neared the beginning of his adult years.

So of course when whispers and rumours of a new pirate ship docked in town, Peter started to dig. The pirates were rowdy but kind, unashamed to be themselves even if the townsfolk gossiped and whispered as they walked by. But all and all, they kept to themselves.

Peter was mostly determined to join Tony’s crew after witnessing him cheerfully threaten the drunken town priest from grabbing at his aunt like he always did, even cutting his hand for good measure when the priest sneered at him and refused.

After leaving a letter for his aunt and packing all his belongings into a small bag, Peter snuck into the cargo hold to wait. It actually took the crew two days before Happy discovered Peter, sleeping in the storage room and hauled him in front of the Captain.

Tony squinted. “Kid? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at home helping out your aunt?”

“I want to join your crew!” blurted Peter, straightening up, “I’ll do anything, I promise! I’ll scrub dishes, I’ll clean your swords- just let me do anything! Please!”

Tony crossed his arms with a scowl. “Tell me why I shouldn’t turn this ship around and drop kick you onto your aunt’s doorstep?”

“Please Captain Stark. I- my aunt barely makes enough to take care of herself, much less the two of us. And after what happened in town with Father Brown- not that I’m not grateful or anything, because well everyone hates him, not that we can do anything about it- he’s making a big fuss, and her boss might be firing her because he doesn’t want trouble and-”

“Breathe kid. Take a minute and breathe.”

Peter paused for a moment. “I need to learn how to take care of myself. Aunt May still sees me like I’m just a kid, and I- I just want to make her proud of me for once. Please, I’m begging you.”

Tony sighed, running his hands through his hair. “It won’t be easy kid. This isn’t the life for everyone.”

Peter dropped to his knees, as Tony closed his eyes. “Three months. You sail with us for three months and afterwards, we’ll evaluate things from there. You will write a letter to your aunt explaining everything and drop it off at the next port. You will listen to every order that someone gives you. I will not have you endanger your life or someone else’s - is that clear?”

Peter saluted. “Sir yes sir!”

Tony groaned. “This isn’t the army kid. Go find Happy - he’ll find you some spare clothes and some work in the kitchen.”

As Peter scampered off, Rhodey chuckled from the side. “Cute kid. At this rate, you’ll have an entire flock of ducklings following behind you. First the tree, then the raccoon-”

Tony punched Rhodey in the shoulder. “Please. I’m the cool dad. Which means that makes you-”

Rhodey groaned. “No, no, _nO_ -”

Tony laughed gleefully “Uncle Rhodey.”

* * *

Part of why Peter joined Tony’s crew in the first place was for a life of adventure. However, life at sea is not all roses, but hard work, and Tony and the crew weren’t going to hide that from him.

Learning how to tie ropes until his hands were bruised, peeling potatoes in the small scullery with Happy, and just getting used to working really hard every day took a bit of time to get used to.

There were many nights where Peter had thoughts about giving up and going back home, where he hated the tilt and churn of the sea and where he missed home terribly. But then he would think of Aunt May, and how proud she told Peter she was of him in her last letter, how Sam ruffled his hair that morning and told him he was doing a good job. He thought of the beautiful islands they visited a week before, a place that Peter would have only dreamed of seeing years ago.

No matter how hard the work was, it was a good life. And Peter wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Happy was gruff, but always managed to save Peter a plate at dinner. Kamala adored having someone else on board who loved to swap stories as much as she did. Clint even lets him hang out sometimes in the crow’s nest when Peter needed to take a nap.

Once he’s adjusted to his life as a part of Tony’s crew, Peter mellows out a bit. He still gets super excited whenever there’s new people to meet, or things to see, but he tries hard to reel in his excitement.

So when he found out that Tony and Rhodey brought a merman on board, he got super excited!

Peter almost tripped on his feet when he saw Tony and Rhodey rolling the tank on board for the first time. As a mershark, Bucky is very intimidating, so Peter keeps his distance for a good while.

The first time Peter tried to slowly inch closer to the tank, Bucky’s grinned widely at him, his sharp teeth gleaming. Peter squeaked and ran. Oh god. Maybe Aunt May was right; maybe merfolk really did eat humans! Bucky was confused at how the pup squeaked and ran away, but shrugged.

However, once Peter learns that merfolk eating humans is definitely a myth made to scare children from wandering too deep into the ocean, and that Bucky and Steve don't want to eat him, Peter doesn’t hold back asking his questions.

“How do you breathe? How do these necklaces work? What do you think of the ship so far?”

He definitely doesn’t hold back yelling at them for leaving water all over the deck. Peter is the poor soul that has to mop up after them as they flop over the side of the tank, dragging themselves across the deck.

“STOP GETTING WATER EVERYWHERE. PICK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO AND STICK WITH IT YOU ASSHOLES.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically still May, so happy Mermay! I'm gonna try to see if I can finish up these snippets before the end of the month, but we'll have to wait and see!


	9. Natasha the Siren

Natasha, unlike Steve and Bucky, is a siren, so she’s well known for her lovely crooning voice. It takes her a long while before she’s comfortable singing in front of the crew, because she knows that she makes the crew nervous.

Most members of Tony’s crew have heard the stories of sirens, enthralling men so they wanted nothing more than to plunge deeper and deeper into the icy depths of the ocean. And as open minded as they are, it still takes time for them to lower their guard around the beautiful mer.

But one night, after a long and weary battle with another ship, Natasha twitches as she watches the crew slump at their posts, clearly dead tired on their feet. So, she began to hum.

The crew tense up at first, but then slowly fall into a comfortable silence as they see Bucky and Steve perk up. The tension eventually melts out of their bodies as the melody washes over them.  At Clint’s encouraging smile, Natasha begins to sing.

It’s a song long forgotten except by her people, meant to comfort, to soothe, to heal weary warriors after a long battle. At the end, a hushed lull fell over the crowd.

Moments later, it was like a spell was broken. Claps filled the air, then cheers broke out as the pirates whistled their appreciation. Natasha was astonished as the pirates came up to her one by one, thanking her for the song. Clint was beaming at her from the side, clearly pleased at how the crew was openly approaching her without fear, but she could still see the wistful look in his eyes.

“You’ve invigorated their spirits,” signed Clint. “That was amazing Tasha.”

Natasha frowned. “ _What’s wrong?_ ”

Clint beamed at her, but Natasha still managed to catch the flinch before he smiled. “Nothing-”

“ _Don’t lie to me. Is it something I did?”_

Clint slumped but shook his head. “No you were wonderful, perfect. It’s just- it was the first time in a long time that I desperately wished I could hear more than flashes of your voice.”

Natasha frowned, squeezing Clint’s hand in hers. “ _I’m sorry-_ ”

Clint smiled back at her. “Don’t be. I was grateful to be able to hear any of it at all-”

“ _I’ll just have to sing the song for you over and over again until you get the whole thing then_ ” signed Natasha.

Clint’s eyes widened, but Natasha pressed their foreheads together. _“It will take some time, but we will do this together._ ”

Clint blinked back tears. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Together then.”


	10. Beach Day Birthday

After nearly drowning in their last major ship battle, it takes some time before Tony can even bring himself to get back into the water. Tony flushed in embarrassment every time he started to panic and hyperventilate. What kind of pirate was he when he couldn’t even get a few feet from the edge of the boat without feeling like he was dying?

Slowly but surely, Bucky does his best to coax Tony into the basking tank with him, filled with a few inches of water. Bucky is patient and warm as he holds Tony firmly against his chest, crooning gently into his ear.

“Don’t worry coral, I’ve got you, I’m holding on tight.”

Tony closed his eyes, forcing himself to focus on how safe he felt in Bucky’s arms, and how he knew that Bucky would never let anything happen to him. Moments passed and sure enough, Tony’s breathing evened out.

With Bucky’s help, Tony was slowly able to tolerate longer and longer in the basking tank without having too many panic attacks.

“I hate to say it, but we’re gonna have to dock sometime,” signed Clint. “We’re running out of supplies, we can’t keep finding excuses to circle around. Tony’s gonna realize we’ve been making excuses and order us to land soon which will only make things worse.”

“Yeah,” said Rhodey with a sigh, “He’s up to his chest now right? Let’s do a beach day. His birthday is coming up anyways, and this way he’ll get to control the amount of ocean he steps into.”

"A beach day would be good" mused Clint, "Sam will be happy. He'll get to finally do that seafood bake he's been wanting to do for a while. And I'm sure the crew won't disagree to a day off."

"Set the course then. We could all use a vacation."

* * *

_“You know you can just ask him to be your mate right?”_

Steve screamed, dropping his bowl of cocktail shrimp into the water. He glared at Natasha, frantically shoving the shrimp back into his bowl, _“WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME?”_

Natasha scoffed, munching on a shrimp that flew into her hair. She paused. “ _This tastes better than I thought it would. Hmm.”_

She picked up another small shrimp, dipping it into the bowl of sauce tightly clutched in Steve’s arm. _“Delicious. I understand why you’ve been following Sam like a lost seal pup flopping around. Since you haven’t made your intentions clear, I’m assuming that he’s not interested?”_

Steve reeled, teeth snarling as he cradled the bowl tightly to his chest. “Excuse you, Sam made this especially for me. I don’t see your personal bowl of shrimp anywhere.”

Natasha tilts her head, considering. _“I don’t care for his off-tune humming, but I suppose I could deal with it if I could eat that shrimp all the time…”_

Steve snarls. _“His humming is precious. How dare you. Don’t you touch him, he’s gonna be mine.”_

Natasha snorted. _“Not at this rate.”_

Steve felt his stomach clench as he watched Natasha flip her long hair out of her face. She had a dark glint in her eyes. _”How much do you wanna bet I can sweet talk him for an extra salmon filet hmm?”_

With a spin and a flick of his tail, Steve swam off, heaving himself over the edge of the tank and dragging himself across the deck to the kitchen.  

Natasha chuckled as she watched Steve chatter away to a bewildered Sam, flexing his arms as he threw smug glances over to Natasha.

_Too easy._

* * *

A few days later, Rhodey steered the boat into one of the smaller deserted islands for a beachside birthday celebration. Many of the eager crew helped the gleeful Sam set up the hot coals and stones to cook a seafood feast on the side of the beach. Some set out to catch the biggest fish, while others scavenged for coconuts.  

Bucky gently coaxed Tony closer and closer to the edge of the ocean, slowly but patiently inching closer and closer every ten minutes or so to the warm water. They were standing knee deep in the water, letting the rush of the waves flow past them, when Tony tugged on Bucky’s hand. “Lets go a bit deeper.”

_“You sure starfish?”_

“Yes,” nodded Tony, “you- you promise you won’t let go right?”

_“Of course, I won’t let go. And Natasha and Steve are right here too.”_

Steve and Nat waved from deeper in the water as they dove and swam.

“Okay,” said Tony again, muttering to himself under his breath,“I can always stand up if I need to.”

It takes a few minutes of Tony clutching Bucky’s hand in a tight grip, but eventually, Tony’s muscles start to relax. The familiar calmness of swimming on by the beach, the warm sun shining down had Tony starting to enjoy the water once again.

“I’m okay,” breathes Tony, hugging Bucky in relief, “I’m okay.”

Rhodey waved at them proudly from his spot under a palm tree. Clint, Kamala and Peter snickered as they buried a sleeping Happy under the sand. Steve and Natasha tried to outdo each other as they performed more and more complex jumping displays to the rest of the crew’s amusement and claps. 

_“Happy birthday starfish,"_  said Bucky.

“All thanks to you,” smiled Tony. He pressed a kiss to Bucky’s lips. “Thank you.”

In the evening, the crew cheered and toasted to their captain to another wonderful birthday around the giant bonfire. The cheers and laughter echoed long into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday Tony! 
> 
> We're getting close to the end of the snippets with this au as well! <3


	11. Role Reversal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q: What would a role reversal of the merman and pirate au be like?

Tony the merman, lured by his curiosity and the empty promises of the human Obadiah Stane, gets poached from his home and tossed into the small tank of the travelling carnival. He only wanted to talk, to learn about the humans that made all these wonderful inventions. Tony had spent hours combing shipwrecks and coves finding human contraptions and always wanted to know how they existed.

He never expected to be taken, tortured when he resisted, and paraded around in a travelling circus of all things, gawked at by crowds of humans night after night.

He should’ve listened to Rhodey and never left home.

First mate Bucky, seethed in anger as he watched the merman clutch at his chest, littered with scars. From the blue glowing mechanical object pulsing in the merman’s chest, it was obvious that whatever they’ve done to this poor creature, it was meant to control it. 

The merman was clearly terrified, hiding as best as he could from the humans at the bottom of the tank. Pretty brown eyes flashed at him in fear as his bright red tail shimmered in the dim light. 

Pulling his captain, Steve, into the tent beside him, they stage a siege. Side-by-side Steve and Bucky are relentless, carving down those who stood in their way, blood dripping down their swords. Watching the merman wide eyed and shivering only strengthened Bucky’s resolve as they push through, pulling the tank along behind them. 

By the time they reach the docks and their ship, the Jolly Rogers, no one chases them.

Bucky is sad, but understands as he helplessly watches the merman huddle in the corner suspiciously. 

“It’s not surprising,” said Steve beside him as they watched the merman’s hands hover protectively over his glowing chest. They tried to see if they could remove the device, but the merman only panicked and fought them every time they tried. “-after what they did to him, of course he would be afraid of humans.”

Bucky clenches his jaw. “Yeah. I just hope he’s okay.”

A day later, they tip the tank into the ocean and the merman swims way without a glance back. 

Hours later, Tony tenses as he sees debris sinking down below the waves. He knows he should go find Rhodey now that he’s free, but it was coming in the same direction from the humans who had saved him…

Tony swims up in horror. The ship that had saved him was on fire, pieces of it breaking into the ocean below. It was chaos everywhere as humans continued to fight all around them, despite the fire and destruction that burned the ships around them. Tony scanned for the beautiful dark haired human who had reassured him over and over again, gasping as he watches him fall into the water.

He was badly wounded and unconscious as Tony pulled him to the surface. Tony winced as he looks down at the man’s mangled arm. He doesn’t think humans can regrow their limbs, so this was going to be a painful recovery…Tony heads toward the island in the distance, away from the ongoing battle behind, towing the unconscious pirate gently. 

Hours later, Bucky woke up, spitting out sea water and staring up into familiar brown eyes.

* * *

Pirate Captain Steve is devastated to say the least. He scanned the water for hours after the battle, combing through the debris, calling out Bucky’s name at the top of his lungs. But Steve is the captain, and no matter how much he wants to spend another week searching, the odds of Bucky surviving if they haven’t found him yet were slim…and the rest of his crew that survived deserve the time to bury those who didn’t make it.

So for now, Steve sailed on with the rest of his crew…

* * *

Once Bucky regained consciousness, he gasped. Warm hands gently pressed him back down, and Bucky’s eyes shot open. The merman from before, was staring down at him, concern in his eyes as he nudged Bucky back down onto his back.

Bile filled his throat as Bucky glanced down. Where his left arm used to be was now only a stump, somehow sealed and gently bound with some sort of green sticky substance that numbed the area. He turned to the side and threw up, emptying the contents of his stomach as his vision blurred.

Bucky felt gentle hands on his back, tracing circles as he sobbed and cried. The merman, Tony, his mind supplied, hummed mournfully, stopping Bucky from peeling the makeshift bandage away and nuzzling into his other side. Bucky clutched Tony tighter with his right arm, tears blinding him as he sobbed and cried. 

Tony hummed and clutched at him just as tightly, running his fingers through Bucky’s hair in a soothing pattern until he watched the human fall back asleep. Later, he would crawl his way back into the water to catch some food for the two of them, but for now…

He would comfort his new friend, holding him until he fell asleep, hoping that one of Bucky’s men would find them soon.

* * *

Mershark Rhodey is actually the one who finds them first. Rhodey didn’t stop to rest as he tore through the ocean to track down his best friend after he realized that Tony was taken. It takes him a long while, but eventually he makes his way to the deserted island where Tony and Bucky have been living for a little while.

Rhodey finds them, huddling together for warmth, so tired they both fell asleep clutching at each other. Luckily for Bucky, that's the only reason he isn’t attacked on sight. Tony would never cling to someone like that if they had hurt him. He narrowed his eyes, watching as Tony slowly roused awake, his face softening as he gently brushed the human’s hair out of his face.

Huh. He’d have to keep an eye on this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of the role reversal? We're actually at the end of all the tumblr answered snippets I had posted before, so we'll see if I'm inspired to write anymore for this au! Is there anything you might like to see more of? Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Come find me on [tumblr](http://summerpipedream.tumblr.com/) or over in the [Winteriron (18+) discord channel](https://discord.gg/Ct49uF5/)!


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